North Carolina lawmakers to decide on governor’s veto of 12-week abortion ban
GuardianMay 16, 2023
North Carolina’s Republican-controlled Generally Assembly on Tuesday voted to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of a bill that would ban most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, reduced from a prior 20-week restriction.
The ban applies to elective abortions except in the instance of rape, incest, life-limiting fetal anomalies, and medical emergencies in the first trimester. The law also includes funding for foster and childcare as well as paid parental leave.
This law is the latest blow struck by Republicans against women’s rights despite the unpopularity of the party’s abortion policies. With North Carolina serving as the last bastion of abortion access for many living in the region, women’s lives are now at greater risk, and many families will be put in precarious positions moving forward.
These common-sense abortion regulations are baselessly being characterized as a threat to women's health. If it were up to Democrats, there would be no limits on abortions, but Republicans are making sure there are, and the ones that do happen are safer. Most abortions performed in the state are within the 12-week limit anyway, so this law shouldn't be deemed "extreme," as the governor called it.
There’s a 5% chance that elective abortion will be banned nationally in the US before 2030, according to the Metaculus prediction community.